The Balance
by bearhug562000
Summary: Buffy and gang encounter someone with an interesting power to say the least, just in time for an apocalypse...
1. Prologue

The Balance

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I don't own the Buffy and Angel characters, but the other characters and the plot are mine.

Summary: Buffy and gang encounter someone with an interesting power to say the least, just in time for an apocalypse.

Special Note: This is obviously an AU Season 3, and takes place before Gwendolyn Post arrives (if she arrives.) Dawn is present, but she isn't the Key, just Buffy's little sister.

* * *

Darkness unfolded.

Light slowly crept in, moonlight, cold and dead, illuminating a fallen figure in the graveyard, which stirred and slowly rose to his feet. He shivered and stumbled into a gnarled tree before using it for support as he looked around.

"Where the hell-"he started in a halting voice, before being tackled by a figure that shot out of the shadows and pinned him to the ground. The man struggled vainly against his assailant, but he was too strong. The moonlight finally revealed his face, that of a hungry vampire. His victim saw this and froze in shock.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" he said in disbelief, and popped the vamp in the nose, which only earned a snarl from the monster.

"Free lunch. Gotta be my lucky night-"

The vamp's words were cut short when he was suddenly torn from his would-be victim and slammed into a pointed branch of the tree, dusting him instantly. The prone man breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Buffy or Faith. You have fucking good timing. We need to-"The rest of the sentence never materialized when his eyes meet his savior's face, that of a seven-foot amazonian woman, wearing a cocky smirk.

"Athena?"

"Hey Neil. Miss me?"

(Insert Buffy Credits Here)


	2. Chapter 1

The two figures quickly exited the graveyard, both looking around warily.

"What the hell is going on?!" Neil whispered fiercely.

"Fuck if I know." Athena whispered back, "We need to get off the streets and into shelter in a real fucking hurry until we figure it out."

As they hurried from the graveyard, neither of them sensed the lurking figure observing from the shadows.

* * *

Faith watched the duo approach from the shadows.

Fuck, that woman is big, and my senses are screaming vampire. The guy reads human though. Why the hell is he wandering around in the middle of the fuckin' night in Sunnydale anyway?! Gotta be a fucking newbie. Sure as hell are in a fuckin' hurry. Guess she's in a hurry for lunch. Gonna put a stop to that shit. She waited until they were close and jumped out attempting to catch the vamp by surprise, only for them to jump back, the vamp dodging the stake with surprising speed.

Damnit! This is gonna be a bitch! She swiftly turned to meet the vamp, who just stood there.

* * *

Athena and Neil just stared at their attacker, who became annoyed.

"What?! Do I have something on my face?" Faith asked. She suddenly dropped into fighting stance. Her brown eyes shifted to Neil.

"This part is where you run. So fuckin' run along now."

"And why should he do that, Faith?" Athena asked, folding her muscular arms and raising an eyebrow. Faith started at that, and regarded Athena coolly.

"Because you're a fuckin' vamp?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Faith, we can explain-"Neil began.

"Didn't I tell you to run?!" Faith growled, and launched herself at the gigantic woman, stake raised.

Athena expertly dodged the attack and pushed the surprised Slayer back, hard, who nearly lost her balance, but somehow recovered. Neil stepped back so as to get out of her way.

Faith launched an all-out attack, with Athena parrying her blows easily, and caught the wrist attached to the hand holding the stake with ease, several inches from her heart.

"Going to stop now?"

"Fuck you!"

Damn, she's strong! Faith thought. She attempted to hit the woman with her other fist, only to have the other woman catch it in the palm of her hand, and forced her to drop the stake, then threw her to the ground and forced Faith's own arms around Faith's throat and buried her knee into the small of Faith's back, pinning her to the sidewalk.

"Now, be a good girl and listen to Mother, won't you?"

Faith's only response was to struggle futilely.

Neil looked on, uncertain of the best course of action, when he noticed the sound of running footsteps. He turned around quickly and saw a young blonde sprinting toward them.

Buffy.

"Oh great." Neil groaned. Athena and Faith looked up at the tone in Neil's voice.

"Wonderful." Athena muttered.

"B! A little help!" Faith yelled.

* * *

Buffy didn't know what to make of the scene she had just stumbled onto as she round the corner. But she knew one thing: Faith was in trouble. The amazon had her sister Slayer pinned to the ground, and the man was standing nearby, watching the fight. Her instincts took over and she ran as fast as she could.

As she neared them, the man obviously heard her and spun around. His eyes widened and he said "Oh great." The vampire (what else could she be?) and Faith looked up, the amazonian vamp saying something she didn't catch, and Faith screamed: "B! A little help!"

She was only a few feet away when a bolt of what resembled lightning suddenly shot from the startled man and started forming a shape of light in front of her. She skidded to a stop as it formed into another gigantic female, who seemed disoriented at first, before focusing on her.

What the fuck? How the hell did he do that? Jesus, she's huge!

"What the fuck is going on!?" the newcomer snarled. The man stepped out from around the giantness and held out his hands in a placating gesture.

"Look, Buffy, I can explain."

"Then start." Buffy threatened, raising her stake. The giant woman's eyes narrowed and she started toward Buffy, only for the man to wave her off, to Buffy's hidden relief.

He explained.


	3. Chapter 2

They made an interesting little convoy, Neil in front, Athena and Bellona (the bigger woman who had appeared) flanking him, with Buffy and Faith a couple of feet behind them, watching them closely and carefully.

After hearing Neil's tale, Buffy finally decided to take them straight to Giles. And so they marched toward the school, where the Scoobies were researching the latest crisis.

Faith, for her part, was checking Athena out, and Athena was returning the favor. Bellona and Buffy noticed and rolled their eyes. Neil was too lost in thought and was oblivious. They finally arrived at the school and walked through the double doors until they reached the library doors. There was the chatter of voices inside which ceased when Neil went through the doors, followed closely by Athena and Bellona, and then Faith and Buffy.

Everyone stared at the new arrivals, and naturally, Xander spoke first:

"Whoa…" he said, gazing dreamily at Athena and Bellona, and then Cordelia smacked him upside the head (naturally).

"OW!" Xander yelped, rubbing his sore head.

"Remember me? Your girlfriend? Bonehead." Cordy said pointedly.

"Buffy? What exactly is transpiring here? Who are these people?" Giles inquired.

"Well, it seems Neil here," she pointed at Neil, who waved sheepishly, "has quite an interesting little story to tell."

"Do tell." Giles said quietly.

* * *

After explaining for the second time that night (with Buffy and Faith butting in occasionally), everyone (well, the Scoobies) regarded Neil curiously.

"So you just went to bed, and then, poof! You're in the graveyard?" Willow asked.

"That about sums it up." Neil replied.

"What could do something like that?" Xander wondered.

"Well, there are several possibilities." Giles answered, "A demon, or magic, perhaps. I've never heard of anything like this before. It's really quite fascinating." Everyone stared at him. "Well, to me, at any rate."

Neil, Xander, Willow, Cordelia, Oz, and Giles were seated around the table. Buffy was leaning against the book cage, looking on, while Faith sat on the staircase nearest the book cage. Athena and Bellona were leaning against the library counter. Bellona was paying attention to the discussion, while Athena was gazing around the library, obviously bored, before wandering over to the card catalog, pulling open a drawer and flipping through it idly. Buffy watched her cautiously. Faith, Xander, and Willow just watched. Cordelia filed her nails disinterestedly. Oz was just Oz. Giles was trying to be a gentleman and not watch (and failing.)

"See something you like?" Athena commented without looking up. Willow turned away and blushed fiercely, while Faith just smirked. Buffy wasn't sure how to react. Xander swallowed hard. Cordelia punched Xander in the shoulder and then kept filing. Oz kept on being Oz.

"Y-yes, well." Giles stammered, polishing his glasses furiously.

"Put your hormones back in the box Athena, and seal it with industrial-strength tape." Bellona commented sternly. Athena blew a raspberry at her and kept screwing around with the card catalog.

"Where are you from anyway?" Oz asked in his monotone voice.

"North Carolina."

"You're from back east? Cool." Faith commented.

"Feeling outnumbered?" Neil said, smiling at Faith. Faith only gave him a suggestive look in return.

"Wow! You're a long way from home! But I guess that's kind of obvious…So, has your beard and hair always been different colors?" Willow finished lamely.

"I think it's best if we focus." Giles said, putting his glasses back on. "So you apparently summoned Bellona and presumably Athena here, the question is how?"

"I was in danger, and out they popped. First, a vampire, and then Buffy. That's my best guess."

"It's a neat trick." Faith put in.

"You simply created them with the power of your mind? Incredible. But how did you visualize them so rapidly? Were they characters you created or-?" Giles began.

"I have DI."

"You have what?" Buffy asked.

"Disassociative Identity Disorder?" Giles said in surprise.

"What's that?" Xander asked.

"He has multiple personalities." Cordy translated. "Crack a book sometime."

"So Athena and Bellona here are **both** personalities of yours?" Willow asked. "Wow. That's… wow."

"You've got some hot personalities, man." Faith commented.

"You're pretty hot yourself." Athena commented in return. They smirked invitingly at each other.

"But why manifest them as vampires?" Buffy asked, ignoring Faith's and Athena's innuendos.

"I honestly don't have a clue. I'm just as baffled as everyone else. And I don't really see DI as a disorder, FYI."

"Sorry." Giles said kindly, "but not to get too personal, how many are still inside you?"

"10 more at least." The Scoobies' eyes widened at this proclamation.

"Wow…" Willow said.

"Will, I think you're using and abusing that word to death by now." Xander said sarcastically.

"Sorry." Willow said sheepishly.

"Here's a question." Buffy said, "How do you know my name? All of our names? You knew who I was on sight. You knew who Faith was. You knew who everybody was. How? That strikes me as way suspicious. You're obviously not a vamp, and for some reason, you don't scream demon to me. Obviously, you know about vamps and demons. So, not to over-repeat myself, but, how?"

Neil opened his mouth to answer, and then closed it thoughtfully. Athena gave Buffy a look.

"I believe that is a question best saved for later in the day. Neil was going to bed when all this suddenly occurred, and it's nearly 4:00 in the morning. I think it would be best if we all got some rest." Bellona said.

"But-"Buffy started.

"Yes, I think that is an excellent suggestion, ah, Bellona. I believe there is nothing more than can be accomplished this evening, and most of you have school in the morning. We will reconvene later in the day. Are we agreed?" Giles said.

There was a general murmur of agreement (except from Buffy of course) as everyone got up and prepared to head out.

"Something just occurred to me. Neil, you obviously don't have a place to stay. Can you afford a motel room?"

"Nope. I'm broke."

"Well, I could let you stay with me, but, I don't want to." Cordelia said, and then walked out.

"My parents are a little weird about me bringing men home, especially ones I don't really know." Willow said.

"My parents already think I'm gay, I don't need to throw any fuel on that fire." Xander said, grimacing.

"I would offer you a place to stay, but my mom and sister might get a little freaked out by me bringing a complete stranger home." Buffy explained.

"Who would want to stay with you anyway?" Athena snorted. Buffy looked at her in surprise.

"What exactly is your problem?"

"You."

Buffy and Athena started toward each other when Giles and Neil's voices rang out:

"Buffy, that's quite enough."

"Athena."

Buffy and Athena walked away from each other in a huff.

"I wish you could stay with me, dude, but my parents are weird about strangers too." Oz said apologetically.

"Nobody is gonna put him up? Tell you what, Neil, you can stay with me. I can always use some company." Faith offered.

"I don't doubt that." Willow muttered. Faith ignored her.

"You are certainly welcome to stay with me Neil, if you like. Or Faith. Which would you prefer?" Giles asked.

Before Neil could reply, Athena ran up to him and whispered in his ear for a few seconds, and then Neil said: "Faith it is."

"Very well then. Come back after hours at 3:00. We'll be waiting for you. Good night."

"Night."

As Faith, Bellona, Athena, and Neil and the others left, Buffy watched them go, and when she was sure they were out of earshot, walked up to Giles, who was putting his coat on.

"What is wrong with you?!" Buffy demanded.

"I'm sorry?"

"Giles, you don't even know him! Or his personalities either! They completely dodged my question! We don't even know their deal! And you offer a place to stay?! Have you drunk too much damn tea?!"

"Buffy, my instincts tell me Neil and his friends are innocent victims in all this. They are as obviously confused by all this as we are. As for your question, I feel that whatever Neil was about to say, it was something we would have difficulty with, a great deal of difficulty, and we could process it better when our minds are rested and alert."

"I guess, but they better answer it later." And with that, she stormed out. Giles sighed.

Something seems to be troubling her lately. If only I knew what it was…

And I don't drink too much bloody tea!


	4. Chapter 3

Faith, Athena, Bellona, and Neil were walking through the quiet town of Sunnydale toward Faith's motel.

Well, actually, everyone else was walking; Athena was happily skipping down the street and then skipping back to them and around them in circles before repeating the same pattern with her eyes closed and biting her lip, humming all the while. Faith watched her in a mixture of confusion and amusement.

"What is she doing?"

"That's her version of the happy dance." Bellona replied.

Neil just smiled as he watched Athena's antics, and then yawned like a sleepy bear would.

"Damn, dude, you're beat." Faith observed.

"Yeah, loooong day at work."

"Well, we're here. Home sweet home."

While they were only a few feet from Faith's motel room, she suddenly stopped and handed Bellona the room key.

"Where are you going?"

"Goin' out for a night on the town. I'm still wound up. Wanna come?" She directed this last one at Athena.

"I thought you would never ask."

"Have fun." Neil said.

Grinning, Athena kissed Neil on the lips. Faith shrugged and kissed him on the lips too, and they walked off together. Athena said something that Bellona and Neil didn't catch, that made Faith howl with almost girlish laughter.

Rolling her eyes, Bellona unlocked the door and she and Neil proceeded inside.

"Athena, always thinking with her clit, as usual." Bellona grumbled to herself.

* * *

"Damn, I'm parched. Hope you got ID for beer or somethin."

"Nope. Fresh out."

"Damnit!"

"Chill out squirt. Shall we Bronze it?"

"Yeah, why not?" Faith said, disappointed.

"Lead the way."

As they walked up to the Bronze, Faith paid for them both, and they walked inside. Faith grabbed Athena's hand and pulled her on the dance floor, and started dancing fast and hard to some heavy metal song being pumped over the speakers. They were soon surrounded by a crowd of eager college boys looking to get a little action.

Dancing was definitely all the action they were going to get.

"Damn, girl, you can dance!" Faith exclaimed as they sat at a table with drinks in hand.

"What can I say? I've got skills. Many skills." Athena said cockily.

"Think you can give me a run for my money big girl?"

Athena only smiled.

* * *

Faith found herself picked up and slammed up against the wall in a back room of the Bronze with Athena kissing her almost ravenously. They hurriedly tore at each other's clothes as they fell to the ground, Athena's deep kiss nearly causing Faith to orgasm right there. And when Faith did come, she came again and again, gasping and moaning and groaning, her sweaty body shaking from the sensations.

Athena made sure Faith would remember this after she got up later on. She made sure again and again. **Very sure.**

* * *

A man watched Faith's motel from the darkness until the sun started to rise, then dropped his cigarette and stubbed it out.

Soon. He thought, soon.

You didn't go where I hoped you would mate, but you will at some point.

And then I'll get her back when I serve the Slayer and friends to her on a platter. Literally.

He hurriedly walked to his Desoto, got in, and drove off.


	5. Chapter 4

"Jesus! We stayed out too fuckin' long! The sun's comin' up!" Faith groaned.

"I wouldn't worry about it. Let's duck in this alley."

"How will this help? You gonna try the sewers?" Faith asked, concerned, "No tellin' what's down there."

"Better. Watch." She started fading from view suddenly. Faith's doe eyes widened in disbelief.

"How the fuck are you doing that?!"

"Got a mental link with Neil. So I can go to and inside him teleport-style. Okay, it was mostly a wild guess on my part that I could pull this off. See you around, runt." She brushed Faith's lips with her own and then faded from view.

Faith stared regretfully at the space where Athena was, and touched her lips, which were tingling from Athena's soft kiss.

I think I'm fuckin' fallin' for her. How the fuck did that happen? It's supposed to be get some, get gone. Shit.

Faith walked out of the alley, lost in thoughts of a certain tall amazonian vampiress.

* * *

After an hour of walking, she arrived at her motel room; let herself in with her spare room key, and saw Neil snoozing away.

She didn't see Athena or that other big gal anywhere, guess they were both back inside Neil, it seemed.

It was gonna be weird sharing a bed with someone for so long. she thought.

He's sleeping on my favorite side though. Can't have that.

She cradle-carried him to the other side of the bed and covered him back up, then undressed and jumped in bed and studied him thoughtfully.

He doesn't snore. That's definitely a plus. And he's kinda cute. She thought as she drifted off into peaceful slumber.

* * *

Spike walked through the warehouse impatiently, back and forth, getting more and more annoyed.

"Calm down." Said a suave, almost oily British voice from a hooded man in the center of the room.

"Don't bloody tell me to calm down, you smug pillock!" snapped Spike irritably, "He didn't go where you said he would!"

"What I can say? The world is mired in chaos, unpredictability, something I know much about." The hooded man rose and faced Spike revealing his face: Ethan Rayne.

"Well, thank you, bloody Albert bloody Einstein!" Spike growled, "Now tell me why I don't tear out your bloody throat again?!"

Ethan gulped, and quickly said, "Because you need me to defeat Ripper and his little gaggle of friends and get your precious daft girlfriend back?"

Spike got right in Ethan's face, causing Ethan to shrink back. He could smell the alcohol on the vampire's breath.

"Mind your tongue mate, before you lose it."

"Of course, of course. A slip of the tongue, my dear fellow." Ethan said soothingly, "As for the plan, it ultimately doesn't matter that he didn't go to Ripper's. All we need to do is to wait until Ripper and Neil are together and out in the open. In fact, them being by the Hellmouth will work even better."

"And when they are?" Spike said in a bored tone, annoyed at Ethan's arrogant posturing.

"Then I pull the trigger."

A slow smile crept across Spike's features.

"You really want to inflict serious bodily harm on Betty's Watcher don't you?"

An almost fanatical gleam entered Ethan's eyes.

"You really have no idea." Ethan laughed.

After a few minutes of listening to Ethan's clichéd villainous cackle, Spike finally screamed: "Will you quit bloody laughing?! You're giving me a bloody headache! I've got a bloody hangover! THIS BUILDING BLOODY ECHOES! BLOODY HELL!"

"Sorry, old chap."

"I'll chap you in a bloody minute." Spike muttered to himself as he grabbed another bottle of liquor and stalked off.

It's unfortunate you can't drink yourself to death, you grouchy berk. Ethan thought sourly.

He went back to his preparations.

* * *

Giles sipped his tea and looked at the clock. It was only a few minutes before 3:00, but no one had come in yet.

He had been researching for hours, but was still no closer to finding an answer to any of this. He had become convinced that it had something to do with magic however. Who the culprit was however, he had no idea. Giles sat back and rubbed his temples. He was getting a bit of a headache. Perhaps he did drink too much tea?

"Bugger it." he said finally. Standing up, he began to stretch out the kinks in his body, and once done, he went into his office to make another pot. Then cup of tea in hand and another book, he left his office to bump into a wall. Well, if walls were made of flesh.

Falling on his ass, tea flying everywhere, narrowly missing his book (thank goodness!), Giles began to sputter:

"Good lord! What did I-?" his voice trailed off as he looked up.

And stared into the blue eyes of a gigantic muscular man with long dark hair.

"He-hello." Giles said nervously.

"Hi." The giant said. "You okay?"

* * *

"Do I have to go to these meetings?" Cordelia grumbled as they walked down the hallway to the library.

"Well, you're part of the Scoobies Cordelia, so yes, it's mandatory." Xander replied, "If I have to listen to Giles drone on, so do you."

"Well Xander, you have no life, so you kinda have to go. You know?"

"Maybe I have no life because I'm dating you!"

"Don't blame your stupid geek problems on me, you dork!"

Cordelia's and Xander's bickering was cut short by Willow's chiming in with: "I like to listen to Giles drone on. It's fun and educational!" she said enthusiastically with a big grin.

"I just like it when he gestures wildly." Oz said.

"I'm surrounded by nerds! It's a nerd paradise!" Cordelia groaned, "I give up!"

"Chill out Cordy. We can interrupt Giles with some of our pointless comments like always." Xander assured her with a big goofy grin on his face.

"The highlight of my day." Cordelia said, rolling her eyes. Xander sighed.

"Chill out Cordelia. Let's just get this over with." Buffy said as she walked up to them as they reached the library doors. Cordelia simply ignored her.

"Hello to you too, Oscar the grouch." Willow said in a hurt voice.

"Sorry Will." Buffy said apologetically, "Had a long night. My head feels like the Hulk tap-danced and then jumped up and down on it."

"Dweeb overload!" Cordelia complained loudly.

"Am I going to have to gag you? Because it sounds like a lot of fun!" Buffy threatened.

"Just try it, you bottle blonde!" Cordelia shot back.

"Can I watch?" Xander put in. Cordelia slapped his shoulder. "Ouch!" Xander yelled, rubbing his sensitive shoulder.

"Any day now people!" Willow said, using her best tough voice (which really didn't sound that tough, but whatever.)

Everyone eventually walked through the doors, still arguing, when they finally noticed the huge stranger sitting at the table with Giles. They all froze.

Wow. Buffy thought, breathlessly.

He's so…large. Willow thought, and then blushed.

Huh. Oz thought. He's a big boy.

Xander noticed the girls staring at the stranger, and thought, He's no big whoop. I could get that kind of a body… _in a hundred years_. I'm screwed.

Now there's a real man! Cordelia thought.

"Now there's a real man!" Cordelia said out loud, which made everyone jump a mile and Giles nearly fall out of his chair.

"Hey! What about me!?" Xander complained to Cordelia.

"What about you, dork?" Cordelia said smoothly, and ended up racing Buffy and Willow to sit next to the incredibly hunky guy. Somehow, Willow won, which made Buffy and Cordelia pout and sit elsewhere at the table. Xander sat down with a huff. Oz was more amused than anything else, and sat down as well.

"Yes, well, if you're quite through listening to your hormones, I'll introduce you. This is Apollo, another one of Neil's personalities."

"He has guy personalities inside of him? Is he bisexual or something?" Xander interrupted.

"I fail to see the relevance of Neil's sexual orientation, Xander." Giles said, "Now if we can-"He paused when he noticed none of the girls were listening to him because they were too busy staring at Apollo. Giles cleared his throat repeatedly to get their attention.

"Quit that! Rude much?" Cordelia complained.

"That sounds serious, Giles. You should go see a doctor." Willow commented, still staring at the hunk dreamingly.

Buffy was starting to drool.

"Uh, Buffy, you're drooling." Xander commented, and handed her a napkin he pulled from his pocket. Buffy took it and stuck it in her mouth and kept staring at Apollo.

Apollo just smiled faintly at all the attention.

Giles sighed. It was going to be a long day.


	6. Chapter 5

"We're running kind of late, don't you think?" Bellona pointed out for the sixth time.

"Bitch bitch bitch." Athena replied.

"I'll bitch you in a minute." Bellona snapped back.

"Well, excccuuussee me, but I needed to take a shower first!"

"With Faith, in the girl's locker room, for an hour?!"

Athena just grinned goofily.

"Well, we had to duck in the men's locker room so Neil could summon us anyway, right?"

"What does this have to do with the fact that you and Faith were humping each other's legs in the girl's shower for a fucking hour?!"

Athena just started barking like a happy doggie and wagging her ass like she had a tail to wag, tongue lolling out of her mouth. Faith started laughing but shut up fast when Bellona gave her a look. Neil just grinned and kept walking.

"Okay, you two, quit fighting like an old married couple." Neil said.

Athena and Bellona waited until Neil turned around and started making faces at each other. Faith wanted to laugh but she was too intimidated.

"Boy they have issues, huh?" Faith said as she walked up alongside Neil.

"You have no idea." Neil replied, as they reached the swinging doors and pushed them open, walking into the library.

"There you are. Excellent." Giles said, "You seem to be a mite tardy. May I ask what held you up?"

Bellona made a peace sign with her fingers, put them on her face, and stuck her tongue out between them. And started flicking it around, and then pointed at Faith and Athena.

Buffy and the Scoobies looked confused.

"In other words, Athena was too busy fucking Faith, which slowed you down a hell of a lot?" Apollo translated.

Buffy's and the Scoobies' faces reddened.

Bellona's face broke out in a huge grin for the first time since the Scoobs and Buffy knew her (truly a wondrous thing, she didn't smile much that they had seen.) Apollo grinned back. The girls looked at Apollo, then at Bellona, and back again, and whimpered in disappointment. Buffy's was kind of muffled for obvious reasons.

Faith was too busy staring at Apollo to notice anything else. She started drooling.

"Faith, you're drooling, and I don't have any more damn napkins!" Xander griped.

"Well, hey, Apollo, when did you pop out?" Athena asked, amused by the whole situation.

"A couple of hours ago. I popped out and in the girl's locker room while it was still occupied. That was an…interesting experience."

Apollo didn't bother to mention that the female coach chased him out of the locker room and around campus for 30 minutes with a baseball bat in hand screaming: "Pervert! I'll bust your balls!" (Fortunately, he dodged the sunny parts.)

"Well that explains that white shit all over the walls." Athena said huskily.

"That was paint, Ms. I'm-too-horny for my brain to work properly." Bellona said, sarcasm dripping off her voice she layered it on so thick.

"Funny. It didn't taste like paint." Athena said straight-faced.

Faith snapped out of her drooling trance and started snickering. She couldn't help it.

"You're disgusting." Buffy declared, her voice still muffled by the napkin, so it came out: "Yra'we dafrtrinjk."

"B, why do you have a napkin in your mouth?" Faith asked, bemused.

Embarrassed, Buffy gingerly took the napkin out of her mouth and handed it to Xander, saliva dripping from it. Xander took it in disgust, waited until Giles wasn't looking, and dropped it in his tea cup.

"Well, if we're all quite done with our hilarious hijinks," Giles said, polishing his glasses at frightening speed, "let's begin in earnest shall we?"

"Sorry Giles." everyone apologized out of tune. Giles smiled in satisfaction, made to drink from his cup, spotted the drooly napkin floating in his tea, glared at Xander, and walked back in his office to get a different cup.

* * *

"So when did I become a fricking bloody cop!?" Spike grumbled.

Ethan attempted to tune him out while staring through binoculars through a slightly rolled-down window.

They were sitting at the curb across from Sunnydale High, and Spike hadn't stopped bloody bitching ever since they had left the warehouse.

"Doing this is the bloodiest stupidest move ever." Spike complained, "If we did things my way, it would be over by now."

"You mean the plan where you run in screaming at the top of your lungs, get your undead ass kicked quite soundly, and are then tossed through the window into the searing sunlight?"

Spike looked at him all bleary-eyed and then belched. He was obviously still quite hammered.

"Marvelous. I'm stuck in a smelly car with a thoroughly inebriated vampire."

"Well, it wouldn't be so smelllyyy." He slurred the word smelly, "if that bloody dog hadn't peed on my bloody car! I couldn't even chase the bloody bastard because of the bloody sun! Bloody twat."

"It would have been amusing to watch you try."

"If I were still human, I would savor the pleasure of throwing up all over your smug bloody face! Bloody wanker! If only Dru hadn't left me, I wouldn't be in this bloody fix! Oh Dru…" And then he started sobbing.

"Oh bloody hell." Ethan muttered.

"I know what I'll do, I'll write a poem for Dru! It'll be the best bloody poem ever! Now, where is some bloody paper?" he declared between sobs, and launched himself over the front seat into the back seat, nearly smacking Ethan in the face with his boots in the process, his legs flailing wildly.

"What the hell did I ever do to deserve this?" Ethan grumbled quietly.

He thought it couldn't get worse until Spike started singing a love song for Drusilla, loudly and off-key, slurring half the words.

"Ohhh helll." Ethan groaned, sinking down into his seat and rolling the window up.

* * *

"So, essentially, you're saying you know about us because you watched us on a TV show in your universe?" Buffy asked with disbelief in her voice.

"That's the size and shape of it." Neil replied.

Neil was sitting at the table with the Scoobs now, while Faith was sitting at her original spot from the other night, with Athena now sitting beside her (surprise), and Bellona sitting on the other staircase with Apollo sitting beside her.

"How extraordinary." Giles commented, fascinated.

"That's so creepy! You're like a total perv!" Cordelia almost shrieked. Neil just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Cordelia, if he witnessed us on a television program, he would have no real control over what he saw." Giles said in Neil's defense.

"I don't care! That's still pervy!" Cordelia snapped. Giles sighed loudly.

"Huh." Oz said.

"That…is so cool!" Xander said enthusiastically.

"That's kinda hot." Faith commented from the stairs. "Did you see me give anyone a lap dance?"

"No, unfortunately." Athena said sorrowfully. Faith smirked and whispered something in Athena's ear, while made her smile coyly.

"You didn't see me naked in the shower or anything did you?" Willow asked worriedly.

"Um-"Neil began.

"You didn't see **ME** naked did you?" Buffy said, narrowing her eyes.

"I think **YOU **better take that threat out of your voice." Athena hissed from the stairs. Buffy whirled on her.

"Did I ask for your opinion?"

"You're going to get more than my opinion if you don't **SHUT THE FUCK UP!" ** Everyone cringed, (except Apollo and Bellona, who looked at her worriedly and Apollo scooted away from her direction a little, and Buffy, who jumped, but who was determined not to back down.)

"Buffy, please." Giles asked tiredly.

"Athena, don't." Neil asked quietly, but firmly.

Buffy turned away hesitantly, while Athena slowly looked away, grumbling.

"Jesus, girl, you're wicked scary when you're pissed off." Faith said. Athena whispered something in her ear that made Faith giggle. Buffy tried to ignore her.

"I didn't see much. It was on network." Neil explained.

"Ooohhh…" chorused Buffy and the Scoobies in understanding.

"I got to see more male skin than female honestly."

"Like who?" Willow asked in interest. Everyone stared at her, and she reddened.

"I got to see Xander, Oz, and Angel with their shirts off." Neil shrugged.

Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia started thinking about that, only to snap back to reality when Giles cleared his throat (again).

"Yes, well, as fascinating as nudity apparently is, can we please try to focus on the matter at hand?" Giles asked.

"Sorry Giles." everyone murmured.

"I couldn't have some tea, could I Giles?" Neil asked.

"Certainly, my good fellow." Giles rose to get the teapot and another cup.

"I want some too!" Athena chirped.

"What do you think this is, a drive-in?" Cordelia said cattily.

"What do you think this is, a drive-in?" Athena imitated her, doing a nasal version of Cordelia's voice. Everyone started laughing except Cordelia, who rolled her eyes in annoyance, and slapped Xander's hand (which made him quit laughing and cradle his hand.)

"I'll just get another cup. May I take anyone else's order?" Giles said dryly.

Everyone else shook their heads and Giles went into his office and returned with tea in hand, which he gave to Athena and Neil, and promptly seated himself.

"Now, Neil," Giles began, and paused because Athena started slurping her tea loudly.

"Don't mind her Giles. Please continue." Bellona prodded.

"Uh, right, Do you think it is possible, Neil, that you were brought here because of your knowledge of the show?" Giles asked over the incessant slurping.

"Maybe. I obviously saw things that any enemies of yours may not know about which they might want to. Some personal secrets too. But why single me out? Or was it simply random?" Buffy started at that "personal secrets" comment, but nobody noticed.

"Maybe it has something to do with your multiple personalities?" Willow suggested.

"Because Neil has more than one personality, means he has more than one soul?" Bellona put in.

"The attractions of that would be pretty apparent." Apollo said.

"Agreed. There are demons who consider souls a delicacy. You would be considered a banquet by them, Neil." Giles said, chewing the tip of his glasses thoughtfully.

"Well, Athena keeps wanting to eat me all the time. I must look pretty tasty." Buffy and the Scoobies stared at him and then at Athena and back again. Neil shrugged. Bellona and Apollo shook their heads and smiled. Athena finished slurping and belched, then winked at Neil and made a salt shaker motion.

"Gross!" Buffy and Cordelia said simultaneously, and then looked at each other, surprised.

"Okkaaayyy." Xander said a little weirded out.

"Old joke. Please go on, Giles."

"V-very well." Giles said uncertainly, "our mystery culprit may be a sorcerer, who wishes to use Neil's souls in his or her magics. Magic using souls is the most potent type of magic, and the more souls there are, the more powerful the spells that can be used. But the question remains, why pull someone from another universe? People who have DI exist here."

"Whoever did it may be somewhat incompetent, or simply takes foolish risks needlessly without thinking of the consequences." Athena pointed out.

"A distinct possibility."

"Ethan Rayne." Buffy suddenly said.

Everyone looked at her startled (except Faith, who didn't have a clue who Ethan was.)

"Who?" Faith asked.

"An old acquaintance of mine, who I dabbled in dangerous magics with when I was younger." Giles explained.

"You were a bad boy?" Faith asked, amused.

Giles blushed, and said: "I, well-"

"Giles! Focus!" Buffy complained.

"Sorry. If it is Ethan, it is almost certainly chaos magic, which might explain the unpredictable effect of Neil being pulled here, in addition to Ethan's personality flaws."

"The only question is, if it is him, what does he want this time? To reverse everybody's genders?" Buffy wondered.

"I don't think I would make a very good boy." Willow said.

"I think you would make a cute boy." Oz said, smiling at her.

"Aww. That's so sweet." Willow gushed.

"Sugar overdose much?" Cordelia said.

"Shoot me now." Faith groaned.

"ANYWAY," Buffy said attempting to get everyone back on track that was talking off-subject, "we need to find out for sure before we can actually do anything. Me and Faith had better patrol heavily tonight, not to mention pay Willy a visit."

"Sounds like fun. Me, you, and the big girl can go kick Willy's ass some!" Faith said, enthused at the prospect.

"Faith, we only want info. Not put him in intensive care and have the doctors turn him into the Mummy." Buffy chided.

"You're no fun B." Faith snorted.

"We'll make Miss Spoilsport stay in the car." Athena assured Faith. Faith chuckled. Buffy rolled her eyes emphatically.

"Well, what about Neil? We have to keep him safe from Ethan or whoever." Willow reminded everyone.

"My thoughts exactly." Bellona agreed. Apollo nodded in assent.

"I am in complete agreement. Protecting Neil is of utmost importance. Given the potency of soul magic, any misuse or bungling would have disastrous consequences."

"Like what?" Willow asked, intrigued.

"It could open the Hellmouth, couldn't it?" Apollo said suddenly.

"Yes." Giles said somberly. The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned very grim.

"And this Ethan guy doesn't give a shit about that?" Faith asked in disbelief.

"No, he's Mister I'm-So-Great-I-Can-Do-Whatever-I Want-Regardless-Of-What-Bad-Stuff-Happens." Buffy said sourly.

"Well, ain't that peachy." Faith groused.


	7. Chapter 6

Ethan was getting one hell of a bloody headache.

First, he was nearly kicked in the face by the idiot, and then he had to listen to him singing, and now _snoring_?!

The Lords of Chaos must **REALLY** despise him.

It was getting dark. They couldn't stay in there forever, could they?

Ethan looked at the transparent orb in his hand, as energies seethed and coiled within.

If all went well, and Spike and his goons, not to mention all the calamities he was about to unleash, could stall Ripper and his mates long enough, it wouldn't matter what the Chaos Lords thought.

He'd be one himself.

Ethan nearly hopped through the windshield when Spike slapped the back of the seat in his drunken stupor.

When I became one, I'm going to stake his bloody ass. Ethan thought.

He settled down to wait.

* * *

Neil exited the library with Bellona, Apollo, and Athena on his heels as he headed to the toilet. He reached the door and headed inside as they stood guard around the door. Athena put a hand on his shoulder to stop him for a moment.

"How's your diabetes doing anyway, Neil?" she asked. Apollo and Bellona watched him in concern.

"It seems like it's gone actually. I feel weird, sort of tingly all the time, like I'm made of electricity. How about you?"

"Physical, pretty much. It's weird to walk and feel and fuck. But I'm having a blast, especially if you're alright."

Neil looked at Apollo and Bellona for confirmation.

"Pretty much the same. Except for the fucking part." Apollo answered the unspoken question. Bellona nodded.

"This whole thing is surreal." Neil said, looking up and down the hallway.

"I'd buy that. Makes me wonder how badly your mom is freaking out." Athena said, "I hope a whole fucking lot."

"Can you feel any of the others?" Bellona asked.

"Yeah, they're definitely there, but I can't bring them forth. It's like they're unconscious or in stasis or something. I'm guessing it has something to do with the transition?"

"Perhaps." Bellona said.

They looked at each other for a moment, and suddenly hugged each other tightly for what seemed an eternity, and then Neil went into the restroom.

* * *

After they came back into the library, Buffy walked up to Neil and said pointedly, "We need to talk. Privately." Apollo and Bellona raised their eyebrows at her.

"Is that right?" Athena sneered in Buffy's face. Buffy looked at her warily.

"It's ok." Neil said gently. "After you."

Neil followed Buffy into the hallway and down it a ways, and she finally turned to face him.

"You know, don't you?"

"About Angel? Yes."

"You can't say anything. You mustn't say anything."

"It's not my place to do so. It's your place."

"What?" Buffy said sharply.

"You need to tell them, Buffy. Secrets are a friendship killer. Especially secrets like this. You know they'll find out eventually. Sunnydale isn't a big place."

"I can't. They'll kill him. What he put us through after he lost his soul…me through. They'll never forgive him." Buffy paused in thought. "They do find out eventually, don't they?"

Neil nodded. Buffy paled.

"You have to tell them. It'll be worse if you don't. You know that, don't you? You've known deep down all along."

Buffy looked down, then back up at him thoughtfully.

"You remind me of Angel."

"Thanks. Angel was always one of my favorites, except when he went bad, that is. And you too, for a while."

"Just a while?"

"Long story."

"You've got a lot of long stories, don't you?"

"Yeah. I'm one big long story. One part of our long stories we have in common, though."

"What's that?"

"Our fathers both left."

Buffy blinked.

"So you've been there."

"Yeah."

Buffy had a sudden realization.

"You're not saying all this to try to get in my pants, are you? Well, my dress?"

"Nah. You're too skinny. And suspicious."

"Too skinny?! Suspicious!?"

"You're kind of funny though."

"Gee, thanks. Little ol' skinny funny suspicious me."

"Anyway, after we get through this…?"

"Fine! I'll tell them…eventually."

Neil sighed. Buffy smirked at him.

* * *

Okay, enough was enough. Ethan shook Spike awake and nearly got decked for his trouble.

"Just five more bloody minutes!"

"No more time for napping. The sun's down. Magic time."

Spike snapped fully awake.

* * *

Buffy and Neil were still talking in the hall when Neil spotted something over her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked, and then she spotted something over Neil's shoulder.

Vampires.

On both sides of them.

The vampires growled as they spotted them and charged.

"Giles! Faith! Everybody! Vampires! Look out!" Buffy screamed down the hall, her voice echoing.

Buffy spun and kicked open a classroom door, and Neil and Buffy ran inside and shut and began barricading the door. The vampires reached it and began hammering on the door angrily.

"I can't fight so many! We've gotta get out of here and find a way to rejoin the others!"

Neil started shaking and then a bolt of that strange lightning arced from him and began forming a shape.

The vampires were starting to break in, as the door shuddered with every blow.

The figure of energy coalesced into a powerful looking blonde, shorter and smaller than the other personalities Buffy had seen, but still bigger and taller than her.

The woman looked around in confusion, and then spotted Neil.

"Neil?!"

"No time to explain! Escape now! Gab later!" Buffy urged frantically.

The blonde grabbed her and Neil and said: "Hang onto me and duck!"

They quickly did so, and she took a running leap through the window, spinning backwards as she did so, just as the vampires burst in. Sounds of fighting could be heard from the hallway. The blonde used her body to shield them as best she could from the glass and impact as they flew through the window and rolled on the ground. They hopped up and began running.

And ran into a roadblock.

Ten vampires blocked their escape. But they weren't alone.

Spike was with them.

"Hello again cutie." Spike said to Buffy.

Buffy's eyes widened in shock.

And Ethan Rayne.

He pointed a glowing orb at Neil and uttered one word:

"Bang."

* * *

He couldn't stand it anymore.

He had to see Buffy.

This was why Angel was carefully skulking down the street, in order to avoid being seen by any of the others, especially Xander and Giles.

Angel didn't see her at her house while he was lurking there, so most likely, she was researching or patrolling. But this wasn't just a social call.

He had discovered Spike was back.

He needed to warn Buffy.

As he neared the school, he caught the distinctive sounds of a raging battle: Screams, blows smacking flesh, glass smashing, and the sound of vampires dusting and growling.

And then a terrible thunderclap.

Buffy. She has to be in the middle of that!

Angel instinctively broke out in a run, caution be damned.

* * *

Everyone heard Buffy's scream down the hall and the unmistakable sound of vampires on the hunt. They all looked at each other and ran out into the hall. A number of the vampires turned in their direction.

"Where's Buffy?!" Xander cried.

"NEIL!!!" Athena screamed in anguish.

"They must be in that room. The vampires are attacking the door like crazy!" Bellona yelled.

"Then what are standing around for?" Faith screamed.

The vampires certainly didn't wait. Some of them sprang to the attack, fangs bared, while the others kept ramming the battered door.

Athena, Apollo, and Bellona vamped out, and with a terrifying roar which shook the windows and paralyzed the vampires with fear, they leapt upon them. Faith ran after Athena and started kicking some vampire ass. The others spread out and tried to isolate any vampires they could and gang up on them.

Athena, Apollo, and Bellona didn't screw around. They literally began pulling the vampires' heads and limbs off, snarling and attacking with unimaginable ferocity. Athena literally ripped out a vampire's throat with her fangs, blood flying everywhere in a red haze. Bellona tore a vampire's face off. Apollo smashed a vampire's head in with his massive fist. Faith staked right and left, lust for the kill filling her. The others killed whatever vampires they could. But there were so many it was like they were going in slow motion.

"I didn't know they were this many vampires in Sunnydale!" Xander yelled over the din of battle.

"Xander, quit stepping on my damn foot, you big oaf!" Cordelia yelled.

The vampire they were fighting suddenly pushed them down in a pile of flailing arms and legs and stood over them menacingly.

Until Willow, Giles, and Oz grabbed him from behind, slammed him against the wall, and staked him.

"Xan and Cordy! Focus! Buffy and Neil, remember?" Willow said angrily.

"Enough said, Will." Xander responded.

They ran back into the escalating battle.

* * *

"Bang."

After Ethan said that word, Neil began to tremble, energy crackling around him. The ground began to shake, with fear, or anticipation. Buffy and the other blonde looked on in shock. Spike and the other vampires looked on in confusion. Ethan smiled in satisfaction.

He stopped smiling when a wave of energy from Neil blew him and everyone else off their feet with a blast of terrifying power.

There was a terrible thunderclap.

* * *

Angel ran around the corner a few minutes later and skidded to a halt in shock and awe. The ground shuddered beneath his feet as he beheld the scene before him.

Spike, Buffy, a number of vampires, including a huge blonde, and Ethan Rayne (!), were sprawled on the ground, staring at a man crackling and rippling with unimaginable energy, convulsing like he was in a seizure. Lightning-like bolts shot from him and blasted a tree to cinders. Dark clouds gathered overhead, lightning flashing and thunder rumbling. The tremors were becoming more intense, nearly knocking him from his feet.

Angel tore his eyes away from the scene and looked at Ethan Rayne, and then the glowing globe in his hand. Putting two and two together, he charged Ethan. He had no idea what was going on, but it couldn't be good with Ethan here. Buffy looked at him and screamed his name.

"Angel!!!"

Angel was nearly on top of Ethan and the orb when a bolt of power struck him from the mysterious man as he levitated into the sky, hurling Angel a hundred feet into the air. He fell to the ground, nearly unconscious. Buffy screamed his name again and ran to him, the tremors nearly knocking her down with every step she took.

Now suspended hundreds of feet above them, in a pose of crucifixion, energy bolts flashed from Neil and crackled into figures of light, becoming physical people. Ten of them. Other bolts began ripping holes in the air, manifesting into what were obviously portals, from which horrid creatures emerged. Demons.

And behind the demons, something worse. Something unimaginably worse.

The True Demons were coming.

The Hellmouth shook and began to open.

Another bolt of crackling energy fell from Neil and formed a shape.

But this one was no friend of Neil's, or anyone.

* * *

Finally nearing the door just as the vampires broke through, they all heard the sound of shattering glass.

"BUFFY!" Giles screamed.

"BUFFY!" Willow and Xander screamed.

"NEIL!" Athena, Bellona, and Apollo screamed.

"B! NEIL!" Faith cried out.

Tossing the last of the undead aside, they raced through the doorway and witnessed the start of the events in the yard. They and the vampires they were battling suddenly froze in shock.

And there was the sound of thunder.


	8. Chapter 7

Ethan had never seen anything like this. This spell was supposed to empower him by creating ultimate chaos, but he had never dreamed of it happening so spectacularly. Bloody good show.

Ethan's smugness faded away when he saw demons emerging from portals. Time to run. He sprang to his feet and strode two steps before he was stopped by a strong hand on his arm. He looked back in fear to see the huge blonde woman glaring at him, fully vamped.

"And where the fuck do you think you're going? Give me that orb." she growled, low and dangerous.

"I'm afraid not, my dear lady. I must be off. Things to do, you see. People to kill."

"**NOW!!!"** she roared.

Ethan paled, fainted, and dropped the sphere.

She reached for it only to be tackled by one of the demons from the portals.

The orb was accidentally kicked beyond her reach.

* * *

Athena, Bellona, and Apollo plus the Scoobies hopped through the broken window (in Xander's case, he tripped and fell out) and raced into the confusion and melee. They stared up at Neil, more energy cascading and arcing about, causing more portals to open and more demons to pour out.

"Good heavens!" Giles said in astonishment.

"What do we do, Giles?" Willow asked, panicking.

"I'll tell you what we need to do, get that fucking glowing sphere!" Athena snapped.

"Where the hell is it?" Xander asked, picking himself up off the ground.

"I'm too pretty and fashionable to die!" Cordelia whined.

"There!" Faith pointed.

Sure enough, it was only a matter of feet away. They started running toward it, minor quakes throwing them about and beating off demons along the way at the same time.

"It's an orb of Thu! Incredibly potent! They were said only to be a legend!" Giles yelled.

"Looks pretty real to me, Giles!" Apollo yelled back.

"Quite!"

Bellona reached the orb first ahead of Athena somehow and picked it up.

"How do I stop it?" Bellona asked Giles, all business.

"Smash it! Quickly!" Giles replied.

As she prepared to do so, the ground rumbled and a huge tentacle thrust up from the earth, sending them all flying, Bellona losing her grip on the orb. It sailed out of reach. More and more tentacles emerged, until the school was surrounded by massive tentacles, reaching for the sky.

"What the hell is that?!" Oz yelled.

"The Hellmouth is opening!" Giles said, in mounting horror.

"Oh my god…" Willow breathed.

"I knew I shouldn't have got out of bed this morning!" Xander groaned.

"Where'd that damn sphere go?!" Athena yelled, looking around frantically. It was hard to see where it was. The schoolyard was a battlefield. The demons were not only attacking them, but oddly enough, the vampires as well.

"Looks like everyone else came out." Apollo noted and pointed.

Sure enough, ten more of Neil's personalities were fighting for their lives, a tall dark-haired muscular man, a shorter but bigger blonde man, a red-headed woman with a long ponytail, a woman who really strongly resembled Wonder Woman, a shorter and stern-looking black-headed woman, a massive blond woman, a thoroughly pissed-off brunette who was cussing up a storm, and a big red-headed guy, bigger than the other two guys, but shorter than the tall black-haired man. It wasn't hard to distinguish them from the other vampires, as they were all hot and buff. And BIG.

When they finally got up in spite of the frequent and growing tremors, yet another buff and hot blonde ran up to them.

"Wow, you're…wow." Willow said in amazement.

"Care to jump out of that closet, Willow?" Cordelia asked, smirking.

"Closet? N-no. No closet jumping. If I just jumped out of a closet, I might get hurt. So no closet jumping for me! No sir! I'm happy I'm staying in my closet. Staying in the closet doesn't make me a hypocrite, does it?" Willow babbled nervously.

"Take a deep breath, Will." Xander coaxed.

"Breathing. I'm breathing. Breathing is good." Willow said, breathing in and out deeply.

"If you're quite done," Giles scolded, "We're trying to rescue everyone and prevent the end of the world. Rather important, wouldn't you say?"

"It's little Helen!" Athena shrieked.

"Oh god." Helen groaned as she reached them.

"Reunion later. Glowing ball now." Apollo motioned with a turn of his handsome head at the orb's new location, which he had picked out among the raging battle at last.

"You know, before the rampaging demons kill us?" Bellona added, pointing.

"Oh, dear." Giles said, seeing that more of the ever-enlarging hordes had spotted them, and using various forms of locomotion to reach their position.

"Get the orb. We'll hold them off." Helen ordered. "Go!"

"But where's Buffy?!" Willow asked, looking around fearfully for her best friend.

"If we don't get that crystal, where Buffy is won't matter. GO!"

Enough said. The Scoobies (minus Faith, who was helping to hold off the demon hordes) scampered for the crystal, ducking and dodging all the while.

* * *

This is nuts! Buffy thought.

No matter how many Angel and her beat down, more showed up.

And the more power Neil's hovering body put forth, the more rips in space-time appeared.

Space-time? She was hanging around Willow and Giles too much.

Speaking of which, she could see her friends over the chaos, but there was a ton of fighting demons and vampires in her way. No way in hell would she make it. Geez, bad pun much?

There was a group of what appeared to be ten more of Neil's personalities fending off their demonic assailants nearby though. And oddly a red-head separated from them, defending herself by herself. The woman sensed her gaze, and gave a leer that made Buffy's skin want to dance off her bones.

No way am I going near her. Buffy thought.

"Come on Angel!" she called, as she ran toward the group of Neil's personalities, Angel hot on her heels.

* * *

This wasn't part of the bleedin' plan! That bloody bastard never said anything about ending the bloody world! I like the bloody world the way it bloody is!

Spike growled as he killed one bloody demon after another, only to have twenty more take its place.

Bloody hell!

As he fought a running retreat, he spotted something glowing.

It's that globe Ethan had. Spike thought, I wonder…

Evading fighting demons and vampires with a series of crazy stunts, he made his way toward it.

* * *

The Scoobies had almost reached it when a blob-like demon rose up in their path.

"Eww!!!" Cordelia said in disgust.

"You couldn't be a friendly demon and let us by, could you?" Willow asked the demon hopefully.

"I loved you in The Blob!" Xander said to the demon, "You wouldn't kill your biggest fan, would you?"

"It doesn't have ears, so I don't think it can hear you." Oz pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Look out!" Giles yelled.

The blob pitched forward and tried to engulf them, which they narrowly dodged, but not before getting splattered by slime.

"OH MY GOD! I'm going to be traumatized for the rest of my life!" Cordelia screamed.

"That does it! I'm burning all your damn movies!" Xander screamed at the demon, and yelped as it started oozing after him.

"I guess you offended it." Oz said, and he and Willow began throwing rocks at the blob to distract it. It ignored them and kept pursuing Xander.

Giles threw himself into a leap at the orb, only to have it plucked away just before he grasped it.

And looked up into the eyes of a smirking Ethan Rayne.

"Sorry, Ripper, old boy, but I need this intact. I didn't expect this to get this out of hand, but the more chaos, the better for me, and the more power this collects, the more powerful I will become. Goodbye, mortality, hello sweet godhood."

"You bloody pillock-!"

Ethan just smiled that oily smile of his and kicked Giles in the face, knocking him away, and turned away only to bump into a pissed off Spike.

"I'll take that if you don't mind mate." Spike said calmly, before knocking Ethan out and snatching the orb of Thu away.

"Oh, bloody wonderful." Giles groaned.

"So how do I stop this, Watcher?" Spike asked.

Giles looked at him in surprise, but said, "Destroy it!"

Spike grinned, dropped the glowing sphere, and was suddenly knocked off balance by a violent earth tremor, landing on the orb of Thu and smashing it to pieces.

The world became very quiet.

And everything started happening in reverse.

The portals started sucking the demons in rather than disgorging them and it accelerated continuously. The gigantic, monstrous tentacles were sucked back underground into the closing Hellmouth, a soul-splitting roar of frustration and hunger coming from the thing as it was drawn back into Hell.

The massive forces surrounding Neil vanished, and he began to plummet to the ground below. The tremors slowly subsided, almost reluctantly, almost… disappointedly. The tempest above faded from the heavens more gradually.

Everyone ran to catch him as he fell. Except for the enigmatic red-headed woman who was fighting alone earlier, the surviving vampires who had had enough and were retreating as fast their undead legs could carry them, and Spike of course, who calmly lit a cigarette and watched the drama unfold.

Unfortunately, they weren't watching where they were going and collided in a writhing pile of limbs and heads. Fortunately, all those hands stretched upwards caught Neil safely (whew).

Spike just clapped mockingly and swaggered back to his car, got in, rolled the window down, yelled," No need to thank me, Slayer. You just owe me another one is all." And promptly drove off.

No more alliances. Spike thought, I'll get Dru back on my own. Sod the Slayer.

He sped off into the distance.

The woman smiled unpleasantly and approached them, taking her time.

The portals gulped up the last of the demons and winked out of existence.

It was over.


	9. Chapter 8

"Well, that was a barrel of fun, why don't next time we all go to Disneyland?" Buffy said.

"You have to pay to get into Disneyland, all the fun we just had was for free." Helen said sardonically.

"You have a point. Stupid Disney." Buffy agreed.

"Thanks for the save in the classroom." Buffy said to Helen.

"You are welcome. I wish that stupid demon hadn't tackled me at the last second, or I could have trashed that orb and ended this a hell of a lot sooner." Helen said.

"How would you have known what needed to be done?" Giles asked.

"I would have made a reasonable guess and hoped I wasn't wrong." Helen shrugged.

"Oh."

"We would have ended it too, if it hadn't been for that Cthulhu wannabe." Bellona said.

"Or the Blob wannabe." Xander commented. Cordelia was standing beside him pulling slime out of her hair with a revolted expression.

"This dress is ruined. Stupidass demon." Cordelia moaned.

"Yes, your clothes are more important than saving the world." Xander said derisively.

"Shut up!" Cordelia snapped.

"Everything is definitely back to normal." Willow said with a straight face. Oz smiled and put his arm around her. Willow smiled cutely.

Buffy and Giles watched as Helen walked back to the group of Neil's personalities surrounding Neil, who was regaining consciousness. Faith stood a few feet from the group, looking on uncertainly before Athena grasped her hand and pulled her into the group, much to Faith's surprise. The Scoobies plus Buffy walked over to them.

"How do you feel, Neil?" Helen asked, kneeling next to him and putting her hand on his forehead.

"Better. Anyone get the number of that tree that fucked me up the ass continuously?" Neil said, exhaustion evident in his voice and features.

Faith and Neil's personalities started giggling. Buffy and the Scoobies looked embarrassed, but relieved.

Buffy looked around for Angel but didn't see him anywhere. He must have taken off or was lurking somewhere. As she searched for him, she noticed that sinister redhead coming closer.

"Guys." Buffy said urgently, "We have company." Everyone else looked up.

The woman stopped in front of them. She was obviously one of Neil's selves, beautiful, muscular, huge, tall, but unlike the others, she had the coldest, deadest eyes the Scoobies had ever seen.

"Who the fuck are you?" Faith asked. The woman's eyes flicked to Faith and she shut up fast, a chill going down her spine.

The woman's eyes regarded them all slyly, and then rested on Neil.

"You." the stern raven-haired woman almost hissed. The woman gave her a taunting look.

"Well, hello. It's nice to be out of my little prison, don't you think?" She spun around slowly, arms extended, smelling the air, and then stopped, grinning horribly.

"Do take care of dear, sweet, precious, Neil. I'm sure I'll see all of you _very_ soon." She turned and started walking away.

"You are not going anywhere, bitch." The stern woman said coldly.

"You can't stop me anymore Lilith." The woman replied ominously, and thunder rumbled overhead slowly, and she faded from view as she walked away, until she was gone.

"Eep." Willow squeaked.

"Who was that woman?" Giles asked, deeply disturbed.

"Neil's dark side." Lilith replied.

"She's pretty gulp worthy." Xander shivered.

"Quite." Lilith replied grimly.

"Evil bitch aside, we need to take Neil to the hospital." Athena reminded them. She picked Neil up in a cradle carry carefully.

"We'll put Neil in my car and take him there immediately." Giles offered.

"Works for me." Athena said. She followed Giles to his car, Neil in hand and Faith tagging along. Buffy watched them go, worry evident on her features.

"What are we going to do with this fuck?" the grouchy brunette growled, kicking Ethan in the ribs. He whimpered in response.

"I'm sure we'll think of something. I'm sure a scumbag like Ethan has done a lot of illegal stuff." Buffy offered.

"Sounds good." The tall dark-haired man said, putting one arm around Helen, and picking up Ethan with the other. They started walking after Neil, Giles, Athena, and Faith. As they reached the car, Athena and Faith were carefully loading Neil into the car while Giles started the engine. Faith hopped into the front seat while Neil rested in the back.

"I don't think I can fit in your kiddie car, Gilesly-Wilesly." Athena said, smirking.

"Kiddie car?!" Giles sputtered.

"She's got a point, Giles." Faith laughed, "What possessed you to buy this old clunker?"

"Old clunker?!" Giles almost screeched.

"Be nice." Neil said from the back, "Don't bash Giles' little car."

"I bloody give up." Giles groaned, "Americans."

"If you can't go, I'll go." Buffy chirped, and hopped in the back seat. Athena scowled.

"See you at the hospital." Helen said. The occupants of the car nodded and Giles drove away, Faith and Athena looking at each other until the car was out of sight.

"I'm beat." Willow said tiredly.

"Me too. I think we might skip the hospital trip." Xander said. Oz, Willow, and Cordelia nodded in agreement.

"I need to take a hundred showers and then burn this dress!" Cordelia said dejectedly.

"Can I watch?" Xander asked with a goofy grin.

"Maybe." Cordelia said slyly.

"Bye." Helen said.

The remaining Scoobies took that as their cue, and headed for home, chattering away. Athena, Bellona, Apollo, Helen, Lilith, and the others watched them go, and then looked at each other.

"So what shall we do with him for the time being?" Helen said, pointing at Ethan.

"Lock him in the book cage and leave him for now." Lilith said.

They walked back into the school, locked him in, and walked back outside.

"Shouldn't someone stay behind to watch him?" Helen asked.

"He shouldn't be able to escape." Lilith pointed out. "That cage can hold Vampire Willow and Werewolf Oz with no trouble. It should suffice to hold him for one night."

"That's true."

"Let's make tracks then." Apollo said.

"Athena's already leaving." Bellona pointed out.

They all looked at Athena, who had left the campus and was walking down the sidewalk, then stopped, obviously thought of something, and changed into a bat, then flew away.

"She has always been too impatient." Lilith sighed.

They morphed into bats as well and flew after her.


	10. Epilogue

The Mayor was preparing to leave when there was a knock on his door. He walked over, opened it, and stared up at his visitor in amazement.

"Hi there. What can I do for you, Miss-?"

"My name is not important. I think we can help each other, Richard. May I call you Richard?"

"Sure! Sit down. Take a load off." The Mayor said cheeringly, and sat back at his desk.

"Now, what can you do for me?"

"I think I can eliminate a little problem of yours. A Slayer problem."

"Golly, that would be just swell! What would you like in return?"

She just smiled, her dead and cold eyes glittering. (Cue menacing music.)

**The End?**

(Roll End Credits Here)


End file.
